The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Delosperma plant, botanically known as Delosperma cooperi ‘Jewel of Desert Ruby’ and will be referred to hereinafter by its cultivar name, ‘Jewel of Desert Ruby’. The new cultivar of Delosperma is a herbaceous perennial grown for container and landscape use.
The new cultivar was derived from a controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Ichinimiya-City, Aichi-Pref, Japan. The overall purpose of the breeding program was to develop new cultivars of Delosperma plants with low-growing and well-spreading growth habits combined with long flowering periods and a unique range of flower colors.
‘Jewel of Desert Ruby’ was selected in the Inventor's trial garden in November 2006 as a single unique plant from amongst the seedlings derived from self-crossing an unnamed plant from the Inventor's breeding program in 2005. The Inventor's reference number for the parent plant is 2005-1.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood cuttings in 2009 by the Inventor in Ichinimiya-City, Aichi-Pref, Japan. Propagation by softwood cuttings has shown that the unique features of the new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.